LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was up 0.48% at 19,327.76 in afternoon trading on Friday, with Provident Financial leading the index lower.

Construction and roofing supplies outfit SIG and housebuilder Redrow followed close behind, taking their cue from sinking contemporaries on the FTSE 100 index as newly enhanced no-deal Brexit fears ensured that the sector took a beating.

Meanwhile Wood Group also dropped after analysts at RBC Capital Markets cut the stock's target price from 670p to 600p.

Up at the other end of the index, bakery chain Greggs led the risers after UBS upgraded its stance on shares of the bakery chain to 'buy' from 'neutral', pointing to significant growth opportunities.

Precious metals miners Centamin, Hochschild Mining and Polymetal each racked up gains as gold prices skyrocketed leapt to six-month highs amid fresh worries about slowing global economic growth.

Analysts from TD Securities said: "Staring down at the prospect of unconventional policy, as the pile of negative yielding debt continues to grow, gold increasingly looks like an attractive asset to money managers and central bankers, which should see allocations to the yellow metal continue to firm."

Polymetal also benefited from analysts at UBS hiking its target price from 1,200p to 1,300p after the miner's interim earnings were in line with expectations and it reiterated full year guidance.

Finally, fashion retailer Ted Baker was trading higher after signing a deal with Japan's Sojitz Infinity to sell its goods in Japanese department stores.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,133.51 -1.05%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Greggs (GRG) 2,032.00p 3.36%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 153.90p 3.18%
AJ Bell (AJB) 402.00p 3.08%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 225.00p 3.02%
William Hill (WMH) 167.80p 2.91%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,405.00p 2.78%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 104.10p 2.56%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,178.98p 2.43%
Ted Baker (TED) 934.00p 2.41%
CYBG (CYBG) 138.75p 2.10%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Provident Financial (PFG) 375.30p -8.80%
SIG (SHI) 118.70p -6.17%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 368.40p -5.56%
IP Group (IPO) 56.50p -5.04%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 222.30p -4.26%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,302.00p -4.19%
Redrow (RDW) 546.00p -4.04%
Elementis (ELM) 140.30p -4.04%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 468.00p -3.96%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 269.50p -3.92%

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